California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) President Thomas A. Parham participated in a national town hall discussion on the value of voting as a means of creating substantive change hosted by Keepers of 306, an initiative of the National Civil Rights Museum (NCRM) on June 30. Moderated by Tracie Potts, senior Washington correspondent for NBC News Channel, “Where do we go from here? To the polls,” included Parham, along with Rabbi Jonah Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, DC; Tennessee State Senator Raumesh Akbari, and Rev. Earle Fisher, pastor, educator, and founder of UP the Vote 901. During the panel discussion, Parham and the ... Read More
Social Justice
Art Professor Devon Tsuno Leads Community Network in Creating, Distributing Face Shields
As the spread of COVID-19 accelerated during the early stages of the pandemic in the U.S., assistant professor of art and design Devon Tsuno became increasingly worried about his wife, Rieko Takamatsu, a nurse treating patients in a Los Angeles hospital that had begun rationing its short supply of personal protective equipment (PPE). Tsuno wanted to do something to help his wife but wasn't sure what. In a conversation with Cypress College art professor Ed Giardina on how two artists could have an impact, they decided to create and 3D-print their own medical face shields. They suspected others would be willing to help and began reaching out to friends and colleagues, primarily within the ... Read More
President Parham Hosts ‘Virtual Check-In’ on Racism, Protests
In response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of police and the resulting protests and turmoil throughout the United States, CSUDH President Thomas Parham hosted a virtual “community check-in” on Thursday, June 4, giving students and other members of the Toro community a chance to share their feelings about the unfolding events and the university's response. President Parham was joined by Rex Richardson, Long Beach City Councilperson; Framroze Virjee, president of CSU Fullerton; Donna Nicol, chair of the CSUDH Africana Studies Department; Catherine Jermany, coordinator of the Rose Black Resource Center; and psychologist Tiffany Herbert, psychologist, CSUDH Student Health and ... Read More
Diverse: Issues in Higher Ed: A Battle for the Soul of Our Nation
Op-ed by CSUDH President Thomas A Parham appears in the June 4 issue of Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a long way from Brunswick, Georgia and Louisville, Kentucky. Yet the three areas are now inextricably linked by the recent tragedies that befell African-American citizens - murdered in those locations by citizen vigilantes or police officers. Each illuminates a teachable moment that we would do well to learn from, and demonstrates that even during a historic pandemic, when we are all supposedly “in this together,” that we still have a long way to go as a society before we truly reach “togetherness.” These tragedies shout out a familiar refrain to ... Read More
Cultivating Crops and Eager Minds Earns Jenney Hall the Excellence in Service Award
Since she arrived at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) in 2016, lecturer of environmental studies Jenney Hall has wasted little time developing new ways to teach students how to study and protect the environment, and how to grow nourishing crops for themselves and food insecure people. Hall quickly became well liked and respected among her students and colleagues in CSUDH's Interdisciplinary Studies Department (IDS) for her teaching of introductory and advanced courses in environmental studies, and for developing curriculum for face-to-face online and hybrid courses. In 2018, she brought agriculture to campus when she co-founded the Urban Farm to teach the health and ... Read More
